I was just wondering if anyone else entered any beers into the national home brew competition. I entered 2 a Vienna Lager and a English IPA. I'm at the Sacramento center and have been awaiting results for a long time. Hopefully it won't be more than 3 more days untill I know.

Good luck to both of you. I considered it for this year, but really did not have anything ready that I wanted to submit. I've also been very nervous about shipping beers for competitions. Having said that, I just mailed off two beers for the MCAB which I qualified for last fall: Scotch Ale (3+ years old) and Doppelbock (2+ years old). We will see how they fare and since they had both placed first with scores of 39.5 and 41 respectively, I can see if and how the shipping affected them.

Good luck to both of you. I considered it for this year, but really did not have anything ready that I wanted to submit. I've also been very nervous about shipping beers for competitions. Having said that, I just mailed off two beers for the MCAB which I qualified for last fall: Scotch Ale (3+ years old) and Doppelbock (2+ years old). We will see how they fare and since they had both placed first with scores of 39.5 and 41 respectively, I can see if and how the shipping affected them.

I shipped my beers via fedex and they arrived 1 day later, so it wasn't really that much of a stressor, I wrapped the hell out of them with bubble wrap. lol.

Needless to say I'm eagerly awaiting the final results. I'm speculating my Vienna will be in the top 3 of the category its in because it has been in 3 competitions before, A friend of mine who helped create the recipe entered it and put me as a co brewer. But this time I brewed it completely myself so if it keeps with its track record should be a great beer.

Mine were utter crap. Not sure which beer they were judging but it was not mine.

That's unfortunate, my Vienna did really well all things considered I'm just amazed it didn't win a higher score really. I didn't taste anything the 2nd judge marked me down for.

truth be told my store was out of saaz which is normally the hop I use so I threw in East Kent and Fuggles and it still ended up tasting like it should have lol.

My ipa did not taste anything like they said, it sat for 2 weeks on their end so they might have stored it wrong, that's what I'm guessing because it doesn't taste like that and I have half a case of it left.

I know from entering the Sam Adams Longshot competition (when it was still about making beer) that the scores I received back were 4 to 6 points lower than any I received from any other competition. Talking with one of the judges who used to judge that competition, they did grade harder than in other local comps. That may be part of what you are experiencing, since they do have to make strong distinctions between good and great beers. Given the number of entries and the prestige of this particular competition (HBC), it would not surprise me that they tend to score tougher.

I know from entering the Sam Adams Longshot competition (when it was still about making beer) that the scores I received back were 4 to 6 points lower than any I received from any other competition. Talking with one of the judges who used to judge that competition, they did grade harder than in other local comps. That may be part of what you are experiencing, since they do have to make strong distinctions between good and great beers. Given the number of entries and the prestige of this particular competition (HBC), it would not surprise me that they tend to score tougher.

I really feel my Vienna should have been first I strongly disagree with the second judge saying not to style, it was by the books to style.

So annoying, and as to the IPA I know they stored it wrong because the 8 bottles I have right now aren't like that, ive tried 3 of the 12 I had and experienced no off flavors. So I'm thinking they placed it in a warm room or something.

If you're not ready to take the critique that comes with entering competitions, don't enter them. This competition has a vast number of entries in popular categories. You have to have beers that are exceptional to place well. My advice is to take any criticism as being constructive and work to overcome the flaws. If you choose to do otherwise, expect some disappointments. Also, you might consider studying for and taking the BJCP exam. At very least this would tell you if you are qualified to the level the sitting judges are. I know I'm not.